Category Archives: State of Florida

A Child’s Dream -A Hunt for the 1715 Treasure Fleet’s Riches

It started about two years ago when Ed’s young niece and nephew, Capri and Cole, came to visit. On our trawler, Adrift, they found the map “Shipwrecks of Florida and the Eastern Gulf of Mexico.” They stared asking about shipwrecks and treasure and pirates. Ed and I had to study up.

“…The 1715 Treasure Fleet was returning from the New World to Spain. At two in the morning on Wednesday, July 31, 1715, seven days after departing from Havana Cuba, all eleven ships were lost in a hurricane along the east coast of Florida. Today, we refer to this area as the Treasure Coast.“

Every time Ed and I saw Cole and Capri thereafter, they asked again about the pirates, the gold, the ships at the bottom of the sea. So this time when the family came for Thanksgiving I told Ed it was time we lead a treasure hunt and then visit Mel Fisher’s Treasure Museum in Sebastian. We could teach the kids about the famous Treasure Fleet of 1715 featured in the 1965 edition of National Geographic where Kip Wagner and Mel Fisher’s Sebastian, Vero, and Ft. Pierce finds created “treasure fever” all over the world. I ordered an inexpensive treasure chest, false pieces of eight, and colorful costume gems. I visited thrift stores for beads. I thought about how the pieces of silver and gold were stamped in Peru and Mexico and that the Spanish had colonized these areas only steal the riches back to the crown…

Ed’s first job was to crate a treasure map. He drew the figures and I wrote the history and clues. Ed even tore, crinkled, and burned the edges of the paper to make it look old. WRITTEN ON MAP

History: the most famous shipwreck in the world happened here. The 1715 Treasure Fleet and over 1500 souls perished in and off the reefs from Sebastian to the St Lucie Inlet area. To this day, lie millions of dollars of gold, silver, and bullion for those who can find it.”

Clue #1 Find Where the Sailors took Refuge
Cule #2 Find the Anastasia Rock. Look for the Blow Hole. Turn around and walk fifteen paces. Look for the pirate flag. Start digging for the Pieces of Eight.

Ed’s second job was to go ahead of me and his family and bury the treasure chest at the House of Refuge. Ed did a heck of a job. Such a great job that once the kids found “X-marks the spot,” they dug, and dug, but could not find the treasure!

I was looking at Ed. I was glancing at Ben (Ed’s nephew) and Kelly (Ben’s wife). I couldn’t believe it!

“Ed!!!” I bellowed!

Although it was November, and Thanksgiving time, it was hot and humid. A fog hung over Hutchinson Island as we drove over the Indian River from Sewall’s Point.

Now we all were getting nervous and Ed and Ben started digging for the treasure box. The kids stood by spellbound. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t given it a good shot.

-Ed and Ben taken over…-Cole tries to help.-Capri holds a map up for Ed to get a clue..“Well the kids moved the pirate flag and the metal bar I put over where I marked the booty.” Ed whispered, so the kids would not hear. “Just find it! I replied. “Keep the dream alive!”

Ben and Ed dug. And they dug. And they dug. This went on for at least fifteen minuets or longer. The hole was getting deep and I knew this is a “no-no” due to nesting sea turtles. I kept making Ben and Ed fill the hole back in. I heard a voice and realized the Keeper of the House of Refuge, Michael Philips, had left his historic post to come outside and see what we were doing. I explained, apologizing. He laughed and was very kind.

Then it dawned on me that we may never find the treasure box. That it would sit and rot here at the historic house of refuge under the sands of time forever. The irony was unbelievable.

Sweaty and tired, Ed looked at me: “You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?”

I laughed and hugged him. “No, it’s actually very funny.”

Right at this moment Ben struck the treasure box. “Thump.” Cole and Capri screamed with joy and resumed their digging. Gold and silver coins were strewn across the sand as the kids fought to hold the bullion. Success! Certainly a dream kept alive and that is all that matters.

Field Trip post treasure hunt:

-Mel Fishers Treasure Museum, Sebastian, Florida about an hour drive north of Stuart. You can take AIA where all the ships lie off shore! -The museum offer kids a fill in the blank treasure hunt questionnaire and once completed the kids get to choose a small gift from the gift shop. Carpi chose tiny binoculars and Cole chose a pirate ring. They also saw real pieces of eight and how expensive and beautiful the pieces were. This facilitated a lot of historical and present day conversation. -Capri and Cols stand before the 1876 House of Refuge, Hutchinson Island, Martin County. This setting was wonderful for our treasure hunt. Thank you!

-A scholarly article by Rick Crary about the 1715 Treasure Fleet.

Never, Never, Never Give Up!

It is really great to be learning more about Florida’s west coast. My recent girls’ trip with high school friends Nic Mader and Cristina Maldonado was the “best-west” yet! What is so interesting is that no matter where I go, it seems my home town of Martin County follows, or is already there. When I opened the book I took along the trip for reference, Everglades, The Ecosystem and Its Restoration, guess who had written the forward? Martin County’s Nathaniel Reed. His final words after quoting Winston Churchill were “I count on you to never giver up!”

God, it’s hard sometimes isn’t it? In fact, part of the west coast trip was to get our minds off all happening on the east coast. And then there is SB 2508. But Mr Reed is right, we must never give up.

Another important fact is that after Mr Reed’s death, the Big Cypress Visitor’s Center was named in his honor. How awesome is that? The U.S.Hobe Sound Wildlife Refuge on the east coast and Big Cypress on the west. What a man!Mr Reed…

He was almost mythical…attending Rivers Coalition meetings in his 80s standing there speaking to us about the importance of the EAA Reservoir with his eyes partially closed, as in a trance. His arms folded, scarred, and weathered from his hundreds of fishing trips around the globe. At these meetings, he revealed insights from his days working in Tallahassee and Washington D.C. and many of the hurdles encountered.

In 2017, it meant the world to me, when Mr Reed wrote a letter to the editor of the Stuart News in support of a bill I sponsored, “A Right to a Clean and Healthy Environment.” I was getting hammered by Gunster lawyers during my appointment to the Constitution Revision Commission. Oh such a threat! Even the River Kidz were being humiliated. Mr Reed wrote in his letter:

“As one of the authors of the 1973 Clean Water Act. I attempted late in process to include agricultural pollution in the bill, but the major congressional supporters of the pending bill felt that by adding the controls on agricultural pollution the bill would fail.

Now, 54 years later, fertilizer and dairy waste are the main contributors to the pollution of the waters of our nation. Algal blooms are all too common even on the Great Lakes.

The “usual suspects” may defeat Thurlow -Lippisch’s brave effort, but you are right: The issues won’t go away! “

I never forgot these kind words, it made it all worth while when I felt like crying or walking into a corner. The bill failed. Time moves on but I never forgot. For me to see both Reed’s smiling face at the Big Cypress Visitors’ Center during our girls’ trip, and then ironically when I opened the Davis/Ogden book; it makes me feel like Mr Reed is still alive. He is speaking to us. Yes. Even when we are getting crushed, we cannot give up.

As I stood at Big Cypress something occurred to me that I had not realized before. The west coast is full of lands that were created because Mr Reed and others of his era did not give up even after tremendous disappointment.

Audubon Corkscrew Swamp and Sanctuary (north west off map) est. 1953
Picayune Strand State Forest est. 1995
Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge est. 1989
Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve est. 1974
Big Cypress National Preserve est. 1974
Everglades National Park est. 1947

In 1947, after going through the political blender, Everglades National Park ended up being half the size originally negotiated. Ernest F. Coe, who inspired many and envisioned a national park dedicated to the preservation of the Everglades, almost boycotted the park’s ribbon cutting he was so angry at the reduction in size. In the end, Mr Coe attended, but only after those the likes of Ms Marjory Stoneman Douglas insisted.

And years later as the list above shows, Corkscrew, Picayune, the Panther Refuge, Fakahatchee, and Big Cypress were established to a patchwork of pieces near or contiguous with Everglades National Park. The “titles”are different, but to the wildlife and our waters its all the same whether private, state forest, national wildlife refuge, national preserve, or national park…

My recent trip with childhood friends Nic and Cristina really brought Mr Reed’s message home! We must work on saving Florida a piece at a time, a drop of water at a time. Heads up! Even when the “usual suspects” get you down, get up, brush yourself off, hold your head high and keep walking. Go visit one of these treasured places. May we never, never, never give up! -Nic Mader, Cristina Maldonado, and JTL – Girls’ Trip 2022 -With the only panther we saw at the Nathaniel Reed Big Cypress Visitors’ Center! “Never give up!” We’ll be back! -Mr Reed’s Forward to EVERGLADES, by Davis and Ogden below -Timeline outside of Nathaniel Reed Big Cypress Visitors’ Center -Mr Reed, Everglades Coalition 2012. Photo JTL

Old Growth Cypress, Old Friends-Corkscrew Swamp

~Old growth cypress trees, Audubon Corkscrew Swamp SanctuaryLong before our waters were impaired, our state’s most stately trees were cut for timber. But in Collier County a portion of Florida’s original old growth bald cypress forest remains. Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary boardwalk allows access into this majestic place considered the world’s largest old growth bald cypress forest. Amazing!

On Saturday, February 26, 2022, two of my “oldest” friends, Nic Mader, and Cristina Maldonado, and I, drove south below Lake Okeechobee and then west. This tour includes other destinations, but for this post, I will focus on Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. The sanctuary includes wet prairie, pond cypress, bald cypress and a sprawling central marsh. These photos are from the bald cypress section. The giants were just growing their fernlike, delicate leaves, some were bare.

As mentioned, Florida’s once glorious forests were raped and pillaged mostly in the years after the Civil War, the 30s, and post World War II. These ancient natural resources built the county at the expense of lost habitat, displaced wildlife, and certainly laid the groundwork for the the degradation of our waters. I can’t image seeing what was done then today!

Collier County Historic Photos

Thankfully, some small portions are remaining. Corkscrew is one of them. Although bald cypress are dated to live 1700 years or older, the remaining trees in Corkscrew are estimated to be a “mere” 500 to 700 years old! Looking up Nic, Cristina and I almost toppled over, the trees’ branches reaching to Heaven, beautifully decorated by Mother Nature’s ornaments: bromeliads, lichens, mosses, and strangely shaped, draping strangler-figs.

“I feel young here!” noted Cristina. We laughed!

Young or old, unfortunately, the story of this swamp gets even bloodier. The plume trade also existed in this region. Local rookeries, because of the money attached to the trade of ladies hats, led ruthless plume hunters deep into the swamp. Hundreds of thousands of gorgeous wading birds, often with chicks, were slaughtered. This of course is what brought Audubon to action. Audubon realized that even thought so much was already lost; they must now fight not just to save the birds, but also the birds’ habitat. And thus today, we have Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. Ending with more good news, Nic, Cristina and I saw an incredible number of birds in the sanctuary! Great Egrets, Blue Herons, Night Herons, Little Blue Herons, White Herons, Red Tail Hawks, Tri-Colored Herons, Pileated Woodpeckers and even a non-forgettable fast, circle-flying, click-sounding, Kingfisher that flew inches over the alligators!

My favorite part was when Nic said incredulously: “Is this like an old Florida post card or what?” She was spot on. Like an old Florida post card come alive!

#therealFlorida still lives!-Old growth bald cypress tree, Corkscrew -Old friends, JTL, Nic, and Cristina in an old growth forest!-On the boardwalk -Nic found a ghost orchid, though not yet in bloom!

FIU Libraries: logging in region of Big Cypress/Naples

Thank you to my old-friends Cristina and Nic for sharing their photos for this post and for a wonderful trip! Next? Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk and Fakahatchee Strand!

Water in the Street – Building Resiliency

-Riverview Drive, Sewall’s Point , FL 11-6-21. Since about 2012, the street I live on floods during King Tides. As a peninsular community between the St Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon, many areas of the town are prone to flooding. For instance, when I was a kid, we used to play in waist deep water from Sewall’s Point Road up to Banyan Road during such events as Hurricane David in 1976. Later the town raised North Sewall’s Point Road and the flooding situation improved. However, over the following decades, areas that were “dry” are now often filled with water.

Like the street I live on, fifty years later, Riverview…

On January 20th, 2020, Florida Oceanographic invited John Englander to speak at the the Blake Library in Martin County. In his book High Tide on Main Street, he writes ” Rising sea level will be the single most profound geologic change in recorded human history.”

Whether you believe this or not, Florida believes it. Whether it’s places like Monroe County that has been “underwater” for years, or places like Martin County that are only recently experience King Tide and heavy-rain flooding, RESILIENCY is the name of the game.

Today, I share some links to some of our local and state resiliency programs. If you just pursue them, you will be impressed. Even the Army Corps of Engineers is building resiliency through a program trademarked Engineering With Nature. I think this is the key, incorporating nature, not just building against it. I think we’ve figured by now, without Nature on our side, we will never win. ~Does your street flood? What do you think about the rising popularity of Resiliency?

Resiliency Programs Martin County/State of Florida

South Florida Water Management District Resiliency Lunch & Learn October 20, 2021

State Legislature and Governor’s Office, State of Florida, 2021

Department of Environmental Protection, State of Florida, 2021

Martin County, Florida 2021

City of Stuart, Florida 2021

Town of Sewall’s Point, Florida 2021

-Sewall’s Point Park 11-7-21

“When Flows Return to the River of Grass” -Dr Mark Ian Cook

Dr Mark Ian Cook is smiling. And he should be. It is looking like the the birds and wildlife of the Everglades may end up having one of the best years ever! Dr Cook is the Scientific Section Lead of the Systemwide Everglades Group for the South Florida Water Management District. He received his B.S. at Bangor University; his M.S. at the University of Durham; his Ph.D at the University of Glasgow; completed Post Doc work at UC Berkley; then in 2004 was hired SFWMD Lead Scientist rising to his position today. Cook’s seventeen years of SFWMD scientific photography and publication has required him to take hundreds of helicopter flights throughout the greater Everglades-and literally hundreds of thousands of aerial photographs (data). Dr Cook has seen it all. He was there last year when the rains came early and thousands of wood storks and other wading birds watched their almost fully fledged chicks starve. But this year, this year is different! This year, more chicks may fledge than Mark has ever witnessed…

Before I wrote this post we spoke by phone. “Hello Dr Cook,” I said. “Please call me Mark,” he replied. “We just landed in Homestead to fuel up.” I could hear the helicopter blades swishing.

“How are the birds? Are they still doing well? “ I asked, speaking very loudly.

“They are phenomenal! They are in heaven!” He replied in a wonderful English accent.

“That’s great!” I said.“Tell them hello!” I heard him laughing.

Thank you to the Arts Council of Martin County for featuring Dr Cook’s 2021 Virtual Gallery, “When Flows Return to the River of Grass.” I invite you to partake in this wonderful year for our Everglades wildlife. Take a look at what happens “When Flows Return to the River of Grass.”

(Click on highlighted link above to walk through virtual galley)

Roseate Spoonbills feeding at sunset. Dr Mark Ian Cook.

A Great Egret on its way to build a nest. Photograph Dr Mark Ian Cook

*You can also learn and enjoy from Dr Cook’s work on Facebook.

River Warrior Times 5-16-21

Port Mayaca, Structure S-308 at Lake Okeechobee opens to Canal-44 into St Lucie River. S-308 is open for water supply for agriculture but is not going through S-80 into the St Lucie River/ Indian River Lagoon. Aerial, Ed Lippisch, 5-5-21.

River Warrior Times 5-16-21. This piece is written specially for Lake Okeechobee.

It was my intension to write a summary water piece every two weeks. I last wrote on April 25, 2021.Today, I will try to catch up.

If I had one phrase to describe what has happened since April 25, it would be “high-alert.” Governor DeSantis visited on May 10, giving direction as his executive order 19-12 is the guidepost for the Department of Environmental Protection and the SFWMD.

The blue-green algae bloom at Pahokee Marina, I wrote about last time, was cleaned up through a cooperative of the South Florida Water Management District and the Department of Environmental Protection. This is a first as globs of purple, blue, green, and grey cyanobacteria -blue green algae- sat in marinas and inside canal communities in 2016, and 2018 until they rotted and fell to the bottom. This time, under Governor DeSantis of which DEP and the SFMWD sit organizationally, it was determined (under Section 1 part I of 19-12) to remove the toxic algae via vacuum and chemical treatment, relocating what Palm Beach County could not take safely, far away to District lands away from people and wildlife.

Keith W. Babb, Mayor of Payhokee, attend the May 13 SFWMD Governing Board meeting and was very grateful. You can listen to his comments at 39.00 the beginning of the meeting. Congressman Brian Mast, who led Governor DeSantis’ transition committee, also provided fiery commentary.

Although it is definitely a positive that the toxic algae was removed, we must ask ourselves a question. How are we going to pay for this again, and again, and again? A precedent has been set. Is vacuuming each time sustainable? With Lake Okeechobee in its present condition this is a very relevant question.

As Mark Perry, the Executive Director of Florida Oceanographic has repeatedly stated: “Unless we address the source of the problem in the upper watershed of Lake Okeechobee, we will never reach the 105 metric tons at 40 ppb.” Translated, that means the pollution numbers coming into the lake are high, in some basins over 600 parts per billion phosphorus. You can’t vacuum away as an avalanche of pollution pours in!

The situation is complex. However, the handling of Pahokee Marina is symbolic of a larger problem. I would have liked not only DEP and SFWMD to be in the spotlight at the Pahokee Marina, but also FDASCs the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Why? Because the lake did not get sick overnight, and the history of Lake Okeechobee is an agricultural one. This is reflected in “who” is in charge of water quality.

First, back-pumping fertilized and chemical-leaden water into Lake Okeechobee was common practice and allowed by the by the state. The sugar industry/EAA imparticularly partook of this practice for decades. It almost killed the lake. In the 1970s and 1980s lawsuits forced water that was once back-pumped into Lake Okeechobee to flow south, sparing the lake, but creating a new issue of destroying the Everglades. This in turn spurred other lawsuits so that today Everglades Agriculture Area (EAA) runoff must first be filtered through Storm Water Treatment Areas, south of Lake Okeechobee before it can enter the Everglades Protection Areas or Everglades National Park. Most of this was paid for by taxpayers, just like the clean up at Pahokee Marina.

Lake O, EAA, STAs, and WCAs. (Map SFWMD)

Lake Okeechobee, though in a better position than in 1970 continues to be fed high concentrations of phosphorus and nitrogen mostly from agriculture areas north of Lake Okeechobee. Thus destruction already done from the early years is locked up in sediments, and the new destruction that continues makes for a hyper-eutropic lake that now blooms every year.

Not a good situation. So how is fixing our waters supposed to work? Who is in charge of water quality?

“The Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection Program (373,4595. Florida Statutes) directs the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the South Florid aWater Management District to work together to reduce pollutants and achieve water quality standards in the the Lake Okeechobee, St Lucie River, and Caloosahatchee River watershed through Basin Management Action Plans and Total Maximum Daily Loads program (403.067. Florida Statutes.)”

No one agency is in charge of water quality. Like it or not, in Florida, three agencies have this responsibility. As Florida Statue requires, we must all work together to turn Florida’s organizational chart from a line into a triangle. Until FDEP, SFWMD & FACS are truly working together, there will not be improvement to Lake Okeechobee’s water quality and Florida’s tax payers will be on the hook.

THE TRIANGLE!

–Organizational chart State of Florida. Note the members of The Triangle (circled) responsible of water quality. The Dept. of Ag is a cabinet position. DEP and SFWMD are lower agencies but fall under the top tier, the governor. The governor is doing a great job but he can not do it alone!

Links to timely information:

JAX ACOE keeps S-80 closed, adjust flows to Caloosahatchee

SFWMD operations statement Ops_Position_Statement_May_11_17_2021

EyeonLakeO website Todd Thurlow

DEP algae bloom dashboard

FOS SLR water quality report

Orca report on dead manatees in the IRL by county

Closest to Home

Sometimes the most beautiful places, are the places closest to home. Savannas Preserve State Park, established in 1978, stretches more than ten miles from Jensen Beach to Ft Pierce containing the “largest, most ecologically intact stretch of freshwater marsh in southeast Florida.”

Ed and I usually visit through the Jensen Beach Boulevard entrance, but recently we entered at Walton Road. The beauty was remarkable!

According to the state’s handout, it was Lt. Benjamin Pierce who first used the term “savannah” to describe a series of ponds and marshes and more that he came upon during the Second Seminole War (1835-1842).

If you live near the Treasure Coast, this 5,400 acres offers a valuable close to home experience. Ed and I were there before sunset and even on a cloudy day the lighting was awe inspiring. A wonderful afternoon! Thank you to those who had the foresight to preserve these lands between the St Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon.-Ed takes photos of many small and colorful wild flowers and native plants.-Hello armadillo!-My arms are not even the length of a brown pelican’s wing span!-Ed is shorter than a sandhill crane!-Now this is a great classroom!Savannas Preserve State Preserve Park, Florida Parks System.

Hurricane Shutters Up; I’m Ready…

Over the past weekend, August 1 & 2nd 2020, I looked at my phone for a National Hurricane Center update:

“Tropical Storm Isaias May Become a Hurricane.”

I sat there dreaming…

“What if it really speeds up?”

Tropical Storm/Hurricane Isaias: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Isaias

I checked my handy note card: Category 1, 74-95 miles per hour; Category 2, 96-110 miles per hour. I recalled Francis and Jeanne and Wilma.

In spite of the news reports, Isaias did not speed up. The storm didn’t even come ashore. There was no rain.

Early this morning my husband, Ed, drank his coffee. Our eyes met. “I feel like we wasted the whole weekend,” he said.

“Wasted the whole weekend?” I inquired. “What would you prefer? Destruction?” Ed smirked.

Hurricane Dorian2019: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Dorian

It’s a weird feeling. The feeling that you’re going to get clobbered, preparing, and then it doesn’t happen at all. I recall Hurricane Dorian, September 1st of last year. I was convinced “this was it” – the end of all things material that I loved. I carried around a small box of my most dear possessions. Hurricane Dorian, a Category 5, hovered over and dismantled the Bahamas, but never arrived…

When Ed and I first moved into our home in Sewall’s Point, my neighbors told me they put hurricane shutters up on half the house every August. I thought they were being extremists. I rolled my eyes. Now, with so many fits and starts, I’ve begun to do the same.

Ed wanted to wait until September, but I thought, “you know, Isaias, this is an opportunity. An opportunity to plan, just in case Mother Nature isn’t crying wolf.“

So the bedroom is darker, and the living room needs lamps to read. But me? I feel ready. I feel prepared.

Atlantic Hurricane Season: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/climo/

Earth Day Must Mean Change…

Earth Day 2020 will certainly go down in the history books. The worldwide outbreak of Covid-19 gives all of us a new lens to view the world, our fragile blue planet… Certainly everyone sees “change” differently. For those of us along the Treasure Coast, when we think of Earth Day we may think of water. Since 2013, thousands of us have come together amplifying a longstanding fight for clearer, cleaner water. We started a modern movement that caught traction, and indeed, changed the political landscape and perceptions of Floridians. We are making progress! But big change comes slowly, thus we must do all we can ourselves right now. It must start with “little things,” like with how we think about pollution; how we live; how we use, develop, and protect ours lands; how we manage our pesticide-fertilizer-water-hungry lawns, or get rid of them all-together; how we think about food, transportation, and most important, our expectations of large scale agricultural production. It’s overwhelming really. But it’s a must. Earth Day cannot just be a celebration, a recognition, it has to bring real change, right now.

NASA 2015 Blue Marble

NASA the blue marble series- our fragile planet from outer space

2013, 2016, 2018 JTL/EL: St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon and Lake Okeechobee during multiple toxic algae crises, not long ago, a strong reminder of the need for continued change. We cannot ever again allow such polluted waters upon our Earth.

Photo: Dr Scott Kuhns, 2018

Photo: Mary Ratabaugh, Central Marine 2018